It may be the beginning of a new era for Lachine: a small bookstore in nearby Verdun is expanding westward.
It was the sight of the vibrant little bookstore, La Librarie de Verdun, that prompted Lachine’s Commissioner for Economic Development to invite the owner to consider expanding.
Philippe Sarrasin has owned the shop for the last 11 years. He attributes the shop’s success to an approach that offers customers more than just books.
“It’s an experience—people come into the store and they have fun,” Sarrasin explained.
He’s planning on taking that same homegrown feeling to a quiet section of Notre-Dame Street, where there is an abundance of empty stores nearby.
But despite the vacancies, Sarrasin is optimistic that customers will arrive in droves.
“Business-wise, it’s a good thing to come at the beginning – not at the end, of course, there is part of a gamble in that,” he said.
Adding to the gamble is where Lachine buys its books for spaces like its library.
For about a year, the borough bought all $300,000 worth of books from local businesses. But that changed this year, when the City of Montreal centralized its book purchasing.
Borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic wants to change the rules to again include local businesses.
“I’m hoping that we can negotiate with the central city that we are allowed to buy [from Sarrasin], because we want him to survive,” she said.
With support from the borough, and residents in Lachine, Sarrasin says he is hopeful that the expansion will be fruitful.
“We had a lot of people from Lachine coming in, saying ‘we’re so happy, when are you opening?’ We’ve received job offers—people want to come and work there. Other merchants are saying ‘maybe we can do something together and work together,” he explained.
